Assetmark Inc. Trims Stake in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. $WST

Assetmark Inc. reduced its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 63.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,944 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 26,486 shares during the quarter. Assetmark Inc.’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $3,920,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of WST. Rockland Trust Co. raised its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 6.5% in the third quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 83,066 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $21,791,000 after purchasing an additional 5,087 shares in the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 16.7% in the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 69,775 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $18,304,000 after buying an additional 10,009 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp raised its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 73.7% during the 3rd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 29,107 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $7,636,000 after buying an additional 12,348 shares in the last quarter. North Growth Management Ltd. raised its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 17.2% during the 3rd quarter. North Growth Management Ltd. now owns 34,000 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $8,930,000 after buying an additional 5,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi lifted its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 83.4% during the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 502,831 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $111,236,000 after acquiring an additional 228,696 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on WST. Morgan Stanley began coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Monday, December 1st. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $285.00 target price on the stock. KeyCorp upped their price objective on West Pharmaceutical Services from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $295.00 price objective on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating and issued a $315.00 target price on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Friday. Finally, TD Cowen began coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $314.56.

West Pharmaceutical Services Trading Down 2.9%

Shares of WST stock opened at $243.27 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.50 billion, a PE ratio of 35.83, a P/E/G ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 1.18. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 1-year low of $187.43 and a 1-year high of $322.34. The business has a 50-day moving average of $260.12 and a 200 day moving average of $261.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 3.02 and a quick ratio of 2.34.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.04 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $805.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $795.70 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 17.90% and a net margin of 16.06%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.82 EPS. West Pharmaceutical Services has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.850-8.200 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 earnings per share for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 6th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 29th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 29th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.96%.

West Pharmaceutical Services declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, February 17th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the medical instruments supplier to reacquire up to 5.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

West Pharmaceutical Services Company Profile

West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc is a global developer and manufacturer of components, systems and services that enable the containment and delivery of injectable drugs. The company focuses on high-quality packaging and delivery solutions for the pharmaceutical and biotech industries, producing primary drug packaging components and specialized drug delivery devices used for vaccines, biologics and other injectable therapies. West is known for its elastomeric closures, seals and polymer components that maintain sterility and compatibility with sensitive drug formulations.

In addition to component manufacturing, West provides engineered delivery systems and support services across the product lifecycle.